KUANTAN, 3 Jan 2019:
The service contract of a stall operator at the Gambang Rest and Service Area (R&R) has been terminated by Anih Bhd, concessionaire for the East Coast Highway (LPT1), after her staff and relatives were involved in a fracas with a bus driver on Dec 24.
Anih head senior general manager Radzimah Mohd Radzi said the contract of the operator of stall number six at the Gambang R & R (East bound) had been terminated on Dec 31 after investigations found she had flouted her contract.
“There is a clause in the contract which stipulated that stall operators are banned from using the stalls for undesirable purposes and breaking the law, behaving in a rude manner, quarrelling with other stall operators and customers.”
During a media briefing on the incident at the Gambang R&R today, Radzimah said Anih regretted the incident – which she regarded as an isolated case and had never occurred since the highway was opened in 2004.
“Undeniably, there was a significant drop in the number of people dropping by at the Gambang R&R and in the sale of the stall operators following the incident, namely, almost 50%.
“Anih had held a meeting with the Sani Express bus management on Dec 26 for a heart-to-heart talk to solve the problem as quickly as possible for common benefit.”
For the record, over 42,000 people used LPT1 daily and an estimated 5% stopped at the Gambang R&R – while there are 32 stall operators on both sides of the highway providing food, drinks, handicraft and retail goods.
The Kuantan magistrate’s court on Dec 31 fined six men RM2,000 each after finding them guilty of assaulting a bus driver at the Gambang R&R (west bound) on Dec 24.
However, in a separate proceeding, the bus driver pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting two stall workers at the Gambang R&R (east bound) on the same day.
– Bernama